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Athlone House inquiry: Campaigners in plea to save Highgate mansion from ‘super-rich plutocrats’

David Altaras

The mysterious owners of Athlone House, on the edge of Hampstead Heath, are appealing the council’s refusal to grant planning permission to knock down the former hospital building and replace it with an ostentatious eight-bedroom classical-style mansion.

In a rousing speech on the last day of a three-week planning inquiry on Friday, the campaigners’ barrister David Altarassaid that the mysterious owners “must compromise” on their luxurious requirements for the house.

He told the inquiry: “The object of the planning system is not solely to cater for the arcane tastes of this ultra-high net worth family, whoever they might be.